$40k for chopped fingers at meatworks

A school-holiday job as a trainee at a Warrnambool meatworks resulted in a 17-year-old Sudanese refugee severing three of his fingers, a magistrate has heard.

Midfield Meat Processing was fined $40,000, without conviction, after the January 2006 incident.

Magistrate Michael Stone was told the teenager was using a single-handed pneumatic hock cutter (a device like a pair of shears) to remove the legs from slaughtered sheep, when his thumb was severed and three fingers were amputated from his left hand.

Although his fingers were subsequently re-attached, he has lost some function.

The court was told training of new meatworks employees consisted of site induction and visual demonstrations of each task, as well as a review of written work instructions. An experienced worker or supervisor would work beside the trainee until they were assessed as being competent in performing the task.

The January 2006 incident happened less than a month after he began working at Midfield and the teen was working unassisted at the time.

WorkSafe's executive director, John Merritt, said training and supervision for young or inexperienced workers was vital.

"The young or inexperienced are among the most vulnerable people in any workplace, particularly when using powered equipment," he said.

"Powered equipment makes the job easier or faster. It's stronger than humans, but its advantages must be measured against the dangers."

Within a week of the accident, Midfield replaced the single-handed hock-cutters with double-handed hock cutters and the production process was changed.